Make Your Barbecue Safer By Marinating Your Meat in Beer

A new study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that a beer-based meat marinade makes it safer to eat if you’re barbecuing it.

Of course, true barbecue aficionados have been using beer as a marinade for a long time but this is the first confirmed study that shows just how affective a beer marinade can be when it comes to make your meat safe and healthy to eat (stifle that laughter). The study examined the amount of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAHs formed in certain kinds of meat that are usually served at barbecues. PAHs form when meat is cooked at high temperatures and can be harmful to humans since they are also found in cigarettes and car exhaust fumes. However, the study found that marinading the meat in beer dramatically reduced the amount of these carcinogens and prevented them from forming while they are cooking.

In one example, researchers grilled a slab of pork that had been sitting in a Pilsner marinade for four hours and found that it had reduced eight different kinds of PAHs after it was grilled by almost half their normal totals in a non-beer marinade. This example not only showed just how a beer marinade can make meat healthier and leaner but it also showed that darker beers are the most effective at controlling PAH levels.

Oh beer, we love you so much. Is there anything you can’t do? We wouldn’t be surprised if we woke up tomorrow and discovered that showering in beer could make our skin tighter and smoother and gave our hair a glossier sheen.